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Farsoon Technologies, a metal and polymer 3D printer manufacturer founded in China, has developed a method of additive manufacturing with pure cooper. The product of a project conducted in collaboration with industrial partners throughout 2017, the technique has been proven in the production of a functional heat exchanger.

In conversation with Chenlu Fang, Global Marketing Manager at Farsoon, 3D Printing Industry learns more about the secret to this challenging technique.

Two 3D printed copper heat exchangers. Image via Farsoon Technologies

Farsoon’s secret to pure copper additive manufacturing

Though frequently used in aerospace, automotive and electronic component manufacturing, pure copper is unsuitable for many common laser-operated 3D printers due to its high reflectivity. In some systems this is due to a laser’s color and frequency, which is typically infrared.

“We developed it based on our current metal system with a regular fiber laser, all hardware remaining the same as our standard metal systems.”

Instead Farsoon’s “secret” is in its open platform ethos. Without locking down the parameters of its machines, Farsoon enables operators to access advanced processing settings and use third party materials, which was essential to 3D printing pure copper.

“For developing the pure copper,” Fang adds, “we conducted a large number of tests to obtain the best parameters especially on laser power, fill scanning speed and fill scanning line spacing.” With these optimal parameters, the team were ultimately able to counter the adverse effects of copper’s reflectivity, and achieve the perfect part density and performance.

High quality copper for all

A parametrically designed heat exchanger was used as a proof-of-concept object for Farsoon’s copper 3D printing method. For thermal management, this part has a complex spiral geometry, and was produced as a single piece. Wall thickness for the part was set to 0.5 mm and, with this design, part weight was reduced by 30%. After 3D printing, the part was annealed at 600℃ for 2 hours. As a result, the part reported 97% density and 16% elongation at break. Traditionally, this heat exchanger would have been made by brazing. Additive manufacturing the part however is also competitive with this process at a 35% cost reduction.

Through the Farsoon open platform, copper 3D printing is now possible on all current Farsoon metal systems.

Fang concludes, “Our goal is to provide the customer with a high quality, yet cost-effective solution for pure copper processing, without investment for replacing any key optical systems, while expanding the capacity of the AM applications.”

Beau Jackson is Senior Journalist at 3D Printing Industry. With a longstanding commitment to the site's content, she is credited with producing more articles than any other author in its history. Well-versed in the latest 3D printing research and legal/regulatory challenges, her repertoire spans aerospace, automotive, maritime, medical and creative industries. She is a keen speaker and active representative of the company at key additive manufacturing events.